Frederick Phillips is Barbados-born, which is a place where life is, largely lived out-of-doors. There were plants and trees in his front yard, back yard and on both sides of his home, and Frederick and his siblings climbed and reaped fruits from most of them.
After emigrating to New York City, his familiarity with trees and plants and affinity for the great outdoors led him to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. There, he was certified as a Master Composter in the second year the program was offered by BBG and he has continued to volunteer with its public outreach efforts. Through BBG, he was introduced to GrowNYC and volunteered at its Green Markets and special events.
A few years ago, while helping collect organic waste (food scraps, etc.) at the Green Markets, Frederick answered the call to help with Earth Matter’s compost operation on Governors Island. Since then, he has worked regularly on our monthly windrow builds. Most recently, he put time in on our new solar power project and expects to help out with several of our initiatives throughout the year.
From his first time on Governors Island, Frederick thought to himself and announced to the work group that he would seek to learn as much as he could about composting and share it with the whole wide world, and especially Barbados, the island of his birth. Or as he put it: “I would like to have everyone on Earth share in composting”!
By Marisa DeDominicis